May 19, 2016 |

Life Lately & How We Unwind…

Oh man! It’s been crazy over here lately. We haven’t really had a chance to talk about our move or why we moved or where we ended up. To be honest, we hardly even had the time to talk about those things with each other. It all happened so fast. We’d been at our old place (can we call it that yet?) for just over ten months. The space was great. It was the perfect size for the two of us; lots of light, beautiful white brick walls, and no carpet (which is hard to find in Phoenix). The problem with the place wasn’t the appearance, it was the bones. New places are popping up all over Phoenix lately. It’s not easy to find a mid-century apartment complex that looked the way ours did. Which is probably why we fell in love with it. The reason we had to go was because the 1960’s are over 50 years old, and so was our place. The roof needed to be replaced, the A/C unit was constantly leaking, and when it rained we just didn’t know what would go wrong. We kept hanging on because we just loved it that much. All of our things fit perfectly within the place. We had just finally put the finishing touches on our office space, and then things started to turn quickly. We were about to take our trip to San Francisco, and we had a lot of water leaking from our ceiling. The maintenance team tried and tried to fix it, but it just wasn’t working out. The musty smell in the air was starting to get to us and we impulsively walked across the street and signed a lease at the new apartment complex that opened up recently. We definitely want to be home owners some day, but for now, while traveling is a big part of our day-to-day, we prefer to rent. So anyway, here we are. We moved in to our new place last week, and we are doing our best to get everything back to normal as quickly as we humanly can.

In the midst of the move and keeping up with work projects, it can be difficult to find time to just relax and be together. Since making the transition into the world of freelance photography and marketing, we find ourselves working from home quite a bit. It’s been an amazing journey so far, working with companies on creating content for their websites and lookbooks, but not having a traditional 9-5, can sometimes be tough. When there is no place to clock in or clock out, how do you decide when it’s time to stop working? After talking with some friends who are in the same field of work, we realized we’re not alone with having trouble turning off that work switch. Lately, we find that the best way to unwind and turn off that work-mode state of mind is to throw on some comfy clothes and shoes, step out of our apartment, leave the laptop behind, turn off email alerts, and just be. It seems to be the only way we can separate ourselves from working. It’s funny what stepping away from a project can do. When we leave our little home office space, it puts everything back into perspective.

We recently got a few emails about what we like to do in Arizona in our free time. There’s no denying the huge coffee scene here. Escaping to our new favorite spot, Futuro has become a weekly tradition lately. It’s kind of a one stop shop, joined withPalabra Collective…coffee, a gallery space, and it’s also where we get our hair done. 😉 Our friend Jorge Ignacio Torres, is the owner, curator, and hairstylist behind the space. Every detail has been so thoughtfully constructed, making up a serene and unique hang out environment. The space has a gallery with various local art of all mediums that changes monthly, along with opening receptions with the featured artist. It’s been fun seeing friends of ours have their work featured there, along with attending the gatherings each month. Currently they’re showcasing photography by our friend Richard Douglas, featuring another good friend and all around amazing guy in the community, Titus Fauntleroy.

If you’re in the Phoenix area definitely check out the space and grab a Tonico or Mocha — they’re our go-tos each time. It’s been a calm retreat for us during these hectic days lately, plus their huge sliding doors, and open windows make it impossible not to stay cheery each on these spring days! Also, some of you have asked where we get our haircut and what to ask for with bangs, well we also get our hair cut there! Ask for Priscilla — she’s our favorite. 😉

Wow you have certainly been busy! I hope you have lots of fun playing around with your new space! Thanks for all the hot Phoenix tips as well. My partner and I are off to the USA at Christmas and Arizona is on our must see list xx

Hello!

We are Robert and Christina: husband and wife, photo takers, adventurers and best friends. We like to laugh too hard, dance all night, and explore together. Here is a little glimpse into our lives in sunny Phoenix, Arizona.